Friday, May 27, 2016

“How is going to a
writer’s retreat different from going into your room and closing the door?” my
husband said.

“Well, duh. I didn’t
have to clean anything.”

Long ago, I developed
a ritual where I had to clean and straighten things up before starting a new
craft project. For better or worse, I’ve extended that process to my writing.

When I checked
into the BenetHouseRetreatCenter
in Rock Island,
I had a sunny, clean room all to myself. One barrier down to guilt-free writing
time.

Another bonus,
absolutely no unnecessary clutter, no great masses of important things collected
over a lifetime and carried along with every move. I have precious items tucked
into every nook and cranny available in my personal space at home. They all
have a story and meaning, and can be quite distracting at times. My retreat
room came with two twin beds: one to sleep in and one to serve as an EFS
(Exposed Flat Surface). That meant I could fill it with all the essential stuff
I had brought with me, a manageable amount of clutter, since I had to carry it
in by myself. Second barrier down.

Then there’s the
treat of not having to cook any meals for six days. Sure, I had to make my own
breakfast: brew some coffee, tea, unwrap a cereal bar. Letting someone else
cook the rest of the time has always been pretty high up on my wish list for
luxury. Sharing the buffet with the sisters two times a day was fine. I had
enough good food to choose from and never felt hungry. If I had, the little
kitchen area came stocked with microwave popcorn. Another distraction out of
the way.

The solitude the
retreat offered was calming and soothing, but, for me, it felt good not to be totally
alone. A poet from Chicago
occupied the room next door. We saw each other briefly in the mornings, shared
a table at mealtimes, and occasionally passed each other on the nature trails.
The rest of the time we, as writers, went our separate ways.

The grounds of the
monastery contained a small lake and ninety acres of woodland and prairie. Deer
could be seen by day and coyotes heard at night. I haven’t had that kind of
park-like experience in ages, so much the better not to have to pitch a tent to
do it. I took the sidewalk down to the lake for morning and afternoon breaks. From
the dock, I stared into the depths to see what creatures lived down there and
watched birds skim over the water’s surface. It felt awe-inspiring to have the
natural world so close at hand.

From the edge of
the lake, a network of enticing paths took off into the woods. They were nicely
mown and wide. On my first day, I took a leisurely walk and came back with four
pages of observations. My notes provided some much needed detail for a scene in
my novel.

So much for the easy
part.

A much more
difficult task was the main reason I had listed on my application for wanting
to be chosen for this retreat. I had hoped for a private, safe place to work on
a short story begun over a year before during a workshop at the David R. Collins
Writers’ Conference. The class assignment had been to write something personal
to a person no longer around. I had written to my recently deceased mother.

I had come up with
a reasonable first draft. The instructor had read it aloud to the other workshop
participants. I wouldn’t have been able to read it myself; my grief was still
too fresh. It had remained untouched since then. But now, I knew I’d have to
read it at the end of the retreat week; the prospect was unnerving. I only had
a few days to prepare for something that, for me, might be impossible.

I made my revisions
and began to practice reading it aloud. The first day went badly, but the next
one went well enough to give me hope. I kept practicing. I whispered it softly
to myself in my room. I read it louder if I knew for certain that I was alone.
And finally, I took it down to the dock and offered it to the fish. My public
reading at the MidwestWritingCenter
was barely adequate, but I got through it and that counted as a success in my
book.

A few of the things
that I took away from the 2013 Great River Writers’ Retreat: the honor of being
the first local writer chosen to participate, the validation that my writing
has steadily improved over time, the ability to cope with fear and anxiety, and
the commitment to continue writing.

In short, I have a
new way of seeing myself thanks to the MidwestWritingCenter, its volunteers,
and its sponsors.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

It feels good to be finished
and have it really FEEL finished. (This time.)

I’m happy with the results …
more than the other times I thought I was finished. (YES!)

The thing that surprised me
the most was how well the basic core, or structure, of my book held together. I
changed a character, added lots of information, and generally tried to clear
things up in the storyline. (Hopefully no more loose ends.)

Basically, I was getting rid
of the secrets my characters were hiding from each other. (And the reader.)

Sad part: I had to cut out my
biggest Easter egg. (Cute or not, I was told it was too confusing.)

It’s not all sad … I still have the tomato shirt. (Providing its share of
color.)

Bonus: I now know the
difference between recreation and re-creation. (Hyphens are sometimes sooo important.)

P.S. Since I was late last week, I will be posting
early this week. (Providing balance to the blog life.)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

This week I began to
implement all the changes that come with inserting the new guy into my story.
Sort of like introducing him to the neighborhood and see if he makes friends.

Well, maybe not friends, but
he does have to fit into the scheme of things and behave himself and accomplish
the mission. The mission: to clarify and connect and reveal the motives behind
the actions of the other characters. And let’s not forget the plot. I have been
guilty of leaving too much to vague innuendo. Some of that came from years of
tip-toeing around the real Erik Jansson. Some comes from this being my first
novel—I’ve rewritten it so many times that I wonder if it is still my first
novel. I suppose that it always will be the first until it is officially
finished.

It has taken time and a few
different attempts at organization to actually get started with the writing. First
up: I made a list of the names I would use with the Microsoft Word editing
feature “Find.” Yes, I needed a list because changing one name meant I had to
change another for continuity. I used my list to search for and change whole
names and partial names and to leave one name unchanged.

Secondly, I made a list of
the chapters I thought needed changing. I came up with 12 chapters out of 40. My
plan at that point was to make the changes and then go through the manuscript from
the beginning and smooth things out. I would read every word out loud because it does work to speak
and listen and not give the brain a chance to automatically fill in the gaps
and gloss over the mistakes.

So, I had a plan but I
couldn’t get myself started. The clock was ticking. People were waiting for me.
In an effort to get going, I tried starting from the end in the hope that
working backward would make the beginning easier. No luck.

I ended up at the beginning
and reading every word out loud …
making changes along the way working from a list of my goals.

I’ve been amazed at the kind
of things I’ve found so far: a name change that was missed, a present tense
verb that had to be past tense, a third person pronoun that should have been
first person, a misspelling that was also missed by a “search.” Reading the
work out loud was definitely one of
my better decisions.

Some days went better than
others, and after a couple of really good days I confidently announced that I
would make my deadline of Monday. I am on track to finish.

Friday, May 6, 2016

My parting with Erik Jansson was
stressful—but necessary—and easy thanks to the “find” feature in my word
document menu. I was able to locate all versions of Jansson and replace it with
the name of my new character.

You see, the real Erik
Jansson was too tied up with my fictionalized guy. Too many times I found
myself in the awkward position of answering questions and explaining facts
about the historical Jansson or Janson. (He dropped an s after coming to America.)
This became a problem because I’m not an expert on the real Jansson or Janson.

I simply needed a heavy,
someone who could provide a reason for a painting to be hidden for 90 years or
so.

So enter Karl Hemson. A
brand-new guy with a backstory completely made up by me. I know where he’s
been, what he’s up to, and why he wanted to remain incognito. He can be good or
bad as needed and not ruffle any feathers.

Coming up with names has
always been a problem for me. I settled on Karl Hemson for the following
reasons: Hem in Swedish means home, I
like the idea of a home boy, a favorite son so to speak; the name Karl is because
I simply liked the K; also hem reminds me of a song that Morris Nelson used to
sing at the VASA smörgåsbords.

Hemson and Jansson will
probably have to briefly cross paths in Sweden. And Hemson’s journey to America will
have to be similar. After all, he does end up in Bishop Hill. That doesn’t
change.

Bonus: Adding Hemson should
make a change in the ending easier and more natural.

About Me

Mary Davidsaver is a graduate of the University of Iowa and a retired jewelry designer. She has written for local newspapers since 2007. She is a member of the Midwest Writing Center who has won two Iron Pen first place awards. In 2013, she was the first local writer to win the Great River Writer's Retreat Contest. She has published her first novel with MWC Press.
Mary was presented with the Outstanding Literary Artist Award at the May 24, 2017 annual meeting of the Midwest Writing Center.